Up a Tree
by Kristen3
Summary: While visiting Martin, David goes outside to play and climbs a tree. He soon finds himself in a very dangerous position. Was intended as a one-shot.
1. Chapter 1

The cartoon ended, and David shut the TV off. "I'm going to go outside and play, OK, Grandpa?"

Martin looked up from reading the sports page. "OK. Just don't go out of the yard."

"I won't." David loved playing at his grandfather's, especially because he lived in a house with a yard. His apartment didn't have that. David wasn't into sports much, but he sometimes just liked to lie in the grass and look at the sky. His dad said there were bugs in the grass, but David didn't care. As he looked up, he realized he could see almost all the way up the tallest tree in the yard. It was really tall. David wasn't quite sure, but he thought he saw a bird's nest up there.

David had learned about birds in school recently. He wanted to get a closer look, so that maybe he could tell his class about it. David got up and walked over to the tree. The only way he could ever get close to the nest was to start climbing. He reached up, and grabbed a branch. He found places for each foot. So far, so good. He didn't really have all of his father's fears, such as heights, insects and so on. He made his way up without a problem.

But, suddenly, just as he was nearly to the place where the nest was, he heard a twig snap. The sound made him look down, and only then did he realize how far up he'd climbed. The ground was a long way down from here. He swallowed hard. He didn't know what to do, but there seemed to be only one option. "Help!"

Daphne was relieved to have gotten her errands done. She missed David, but she got grocery shopping done much quicker without him there. Besides, she knew both he and Martin loved to spend time together. She made the familiar turn into Martin's driveway, and parked the car. Just as she got out and prepared to go inside, something made Daphne look up. In the branches of the tallest tree in the yard, she thought she saw what looked like David's sneaker. "Bloody hell," she whispered. "David Martin Crane, is that you up there?"

David could tell his mom was mad. But if he wanted to get down from here, he'd have to tell the truth. "Yes. I just wanted to see the bird's nest up here, but then I looked down."

"Where is your grandfather? Does he know you're up there?"

"I don't think so. I was yelling right before you got here," David replied.

"I'm going to kill that man," Daphne muttered as she walked toward the house. The front door was unlocked, so she didn't bother knocking. "Martin, don't you know you're supposed to be looking after your grandson?"

Martin looked up at her. "Oh, hey, Daph. David wanted to go play outside. I told him it was fine, as long as he stayed in the yard." He shrugged.

"Oh, he's stayed in the yard all right," Daphne replied. "He's up in that tree of yours! What are we going to do now?!"

"Come on, Daphne. So he climbed a tree. He can't be that high up, can he?"

Without a word, Daphne pointed out the window. "See for yourself, old man!"

Martin got up, took hold of his cane, and slowly walked over to where Daphne was pointing. It took a moment to see where David was, because Martin had never expected the boy would climb very high. "Don't panic. I'll call the fire department." Martin immediately went to the phone. He dialed the number in seconds, and gave them his address before hanging up. He turned back to Daphne, noting that the panic on her face hadn't gone down a bit. "They're on their way. They'll get him down. They have a ladder."

"How could this have happened?" Daphne wondered as she pulled out her cellphone. Niles was still at work, taking care of some patient files, but she knew he would come as soon as she told him what was going on. "Niles, you should come to your father's right now. No, he's fine. It's David. He's climbed very high up in a tree, and the fire department is on their way over."

"Oh! Well, I'll be right there," Niles said immediately. This was way more important than the notes he was putting into a patient's chart.

"Niles is on his way," Daphne informed her father-in-law as she put her phone away.

Just then, Ronee came into the living room. "Oh, hi, Daphne. I didn't know you were here. I guess I must not have heard the doorbell."

"She never rang," Martin explained. "David went out to play, and now he's stuck in the tree. I just called the fire department."

"Oh. Wow," Ronee said. "This is certainly something that never happened when I babysat for your kids, Marty."

"I know," Martin remembered. "The worst you ever had to deal with was a heated argument over which opera was better." He rolled his eyes.

"You two can stand here and chitchat if you want, but I'm going outside," Daphne said, leaving the room.

Seeing David still up there, panic hit Daphne yet again. But relief followed a second later, as she saw her husband's car coming up the road. Then she heard a siren, which was the most beautiful sound she could imagine at the moment.


	2. Chapter 2

Before even looking to see where David was, Niles got out of his car and went straight to Daphne. His heart broke at her expression. He took her in his arms, holding her tightly. "It's going to be OK," he whispered. "Sh."

Daphne gradually calmed down. She was beyond grateful for Niles. Even at a moment like this, she couldn't help wondering how she had ever not known how he felt about her for all those years. "Oh, darling. David's so high up there. I know me brothers did stupid things all the time, but David's just a little boy."

Niles nodded. "Who got half his DNA from me. It is scary, but there's no need to panic. The firemen are coming as we speak. The last thing we want to do is to frighten David. We don't want him to lose his balance."

"You're right," Daphne agreed. But still, she couldn't fight the urge to climb up there herself and get him down. Even though she could see the trucks parking, she still felt they would take too long to reach him.

Niles saw what she was thinking. "No. You can't go up there. Then _your_ life would be in danger, as well as his."

Just then, one of the firemen came over. "You the parents?" he asked.

Daphne nodded. "Please get me son down."

The fireman smiled. "Don't worry. This sometimes happens." He looked at Niles. "Didn't you ever climb trees when you were growing up?"

Niles gave a nervous laugh. "No. I never did that sort of thing."

"Well, we've got this under control," the man said. Moments later, a huge aerial ladder began to move on one of the trucks. A fireman stood in the small basket. Daphne was grateful her son would soon be back on the ground.

"Now, don't move, son," the fireman said as he neared David.

"I-I won't," David promised. He looked down at his mom. His arms were tired from holding onto the tree for dear life, but he didn't dare let go. A moment later, David felt a pair of hands grab his sides. He breathed a sigh of relief as the fireman placed him into the basket as well.

The fireman helped David carefully climb down the later, and soon he was back on the ground.

Daphne engulfed her son in a hug, overwhelmed with relief. For a moment, she simply held him. But now that she was satisfied that he was out of harm's way, her anger returned. "David Martin Crane, don't you _ever_ do anything like this again! Do you hear me? I will take away your computer. Don't think that I won't!"

"Don't worry, Mom. I don't think I'll be going anywhere near trees again for a long time!"

"Well, good," Daphne said. "Now let's just get you home. I'd like to forget any of this ever happened!"

"Actually...I was kind of thinking about spending the night here, if that's OK." David bit his lip as he asked. He was lucky his mom hadn't grounded him for a month, but he had to at least try.

Daphne nearly said no, until she caught Niles looking at her. She knew he was actually considering allowing their son to stay. "You think I'm going to let him out of me sight after what just happened?" she asked.

Before Niles could answer, Martin walked over to them. "Look, I know I'm kinda responsible for this, but if David wants to stay, why not let him? Ronee and I'll take real good care of him."

Daphne could hardly believe the other adults were against her. She wanted to protest, but knew she couldn't convince all of them. Besides, if she began to worry about David, Niles would be there to comfort her. "Well, if you all insist..."

"Yay!" David punched the air. It was as if he'd never been in danger in the first place.

"I know it isn't a school night," Daphne told her son. "But I'm going to be here to pick you up first thing tomorrow. So you better not plan on staying up and watching sports!"

"Oh, I won't, Mom," David said, doing his best to look innocent.

Daphne knew her son better than believe him. But she could tell that Niles was anxious to have her alone, so she decided not to push it. "Well, all right then," Daphne said. She hugged David yet again. "I love you," she said after kissing his cheek. It was more than she would've given for a normal goodbye, but at the moment, she couldn't help herself.

"Love you, too, Mom."

"Behave yourself," Niles told his son. Then he slipped his hand into Daphne's, and gently led her to the car. "I don't blame you for being scared," Niles said, once the others had gone back inside. "I'm terrified of heights, so I'm glad I wasn't here. But I didn't want to make you more worried."

"I was beside meself when I saw him up so high," Daphne said.

"I know, my love, but he's perfectly safe now," Niles reminded her. "To tell you the truth, I'm glad you gave in and let David spend the night. Now we can have a night to ourselves for a change."

Daphne looked at Niles' smile and felt her heart flip. She realized he was right. Maybe this whole experience had turned out to be a good thing. As she and Niles drove their separate vehicles home, Daphne could hardly wait. Their son would probably have the time of his life at Martin's. What happened today wasn't really a big deal, in the grand scheme of things. But it had reminded her of how lucky she and Niles were. It was something she knew she would never forget.

 **The end**


End file.
